Gulihur and Melilo Close Out NCAA Doubles Championship in Round of 32

Tuesday, May 24

Champaign, Ill.

6 p.m. (EST)

University of North Florida

Tatsiana Sasnouskaya/Yuliia Starodubtseva (Old Dominion)

Kit and Ana walking on the court at NCAA Nationals

Photo by: Ricky Bassman

Gulihur and Melilo Close Out NCAA Doubles Championship in Round of 32

5/24/2022 8:44:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Duo Drops Tight Decision to No. 8 Pair from Old Dominion

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - North Florida women's tennis' dominant doubles duo of No. 33 Kit Gulihur and Ana Paula Melilo were just a point shy of forcing a three-set tiebreaker against the nation's number eight pair from Old Dominion, but the Monarchs' duo was stingy as Gulihur and Melilo dropped their NCAA Women's Tennis Championship Doubles Round of 32 matchup.

NCAA Doubles Round of 32 Score:
#8 Tatsiana Sasnouskaya/Yuliia Starodubtseva (Old Dominion) def. #33 Kit Gulihur/Ana Paula Melilo (3-6, 5-7)

The first set started with ODU taking a 2-0 lead before Gulihur and Melilo broke and then held serve, tying things up. ODU responded to win three-straight games before UNF got one game back and came up just a point short of making it 5-4 as ODU closed out the first session.

Set number two was a tense and back-and-forth contest. With Gulihur and Melilo trailing, 4-3, the pair broke ODU's serve and eventually won the next game thanks to a key deuce point win. Up 5-4, UNF created a triple-set point opportunity, but ODU won the next three points to tie things up.

Another deuce point ensued as UNF came within a point of forcing a seven-point tiebreaker, but ODU closed the match out by winning three-straight games.

Gulihur and Melilo are the first UNF doubles duo to advance to the NCAA Doubles Championships in the program's DI era. They did so thanks to a dominant run through the competition, beginning with stellar play all the way back in the fall.

Together they went 14-2 in dual doubles at the top slot, while finishing the season 19-4 in doubles play. Gulihur and Melilo reached as high as No. 5 in the nation in the fall, setting a program highwater mark for doubles pairings. That mark came on the heels of their Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regional Doubles Championship, qualifying the duo for nationals.